The plasma membrane Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger SOS1 is crucial for plant salt tolerance. Here the authors report the structure of SOS1 from Arabidopsis thaliana in two conformations, which provide structural and functional insight into SOS1 activity regulation.

The cryo-EM structures of SOS1 in the auto-inhibited and activated states reveal that SOS1 undergoes an inhibition–release process upon activation and uses an elevator transport mechanism for Na⁺/H⁺ exchange in response to salt stress.

Using transcriptomic data from ~100,000 informative cells, this study constructed a dynamic cell atlas during the process of de-etiolation induced by light for Arabidopsis seedlings, revealing comprehensive development responses at single-cell resolution.

As we approach the end of the year, plant sciences have been placed front and centre of initiatives to ameliorate the effects of climate change.

Here we show that photoexcited blue light receptor cryptochrome 2 (CRY2) mediates blue light-induced liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) of CRY2–SPA1–FIO1 trimolecular complexes. This activates the N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) writer FIONA1 (FIO1) to methylate mRNAs that encode chloroplast proteins, which are required for maintaining chlorophyll homeostasis and photosynthesis in response to light.

We reveal that a family of plant stress-induced signalling peptides, SERINE-RICH ENDOGENOUS PEPTIDES (SCOOPs), is much larger than originally thought, and identify key proteases required for their biogenesis. We find that impairing SCOOP biogenesis phenocopies a mutant of the SCOOP receptor MALE DISCOVERER 1-INTERACTING RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE 2 (MIK2).

Following a catastrophic wildfire, iconic coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) trees rebuilt their canopies by leveraging massive, stored carbon reserves, some of which were photosynthesized from the atmosphere 50–100 years ago. New leaves grew from buried buds, which had been dormant for 500–1,000 plus years in the oldest trees.

The Lycopodium alkaloids represent a valuable source of neuroactive compounds. The biosynthesis of these specialized metabolites is now shown to involve three α-carbonic anhydrase-like enzymes that are responsible for constructing the key carbon–carbon bonds within their distinctive polycyclic alkaloid structures.

Arabidopsis photoreceptor CRY2 controls chlorophyll homeostasis by blue light-induced liquid–liquid phase separation of the CRY2/SPA1/FIO1 complex, resulting in activation of the m⁶A writer FIO1, regulating mRNAs encoding chlorophyll homeostasis proteins.